1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interlabial pad that can be made to fit a vaginal opening and a vestibule floor without a gap with the vaginal opening or the vestibule floor occurring, the pad enabling leakage of menstrual blood from a gap to be prevented, and dropping out of the pad to be avoided, when a wearer wears the pad between labia.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, sanitary napkins or tampons are generally used as sanitary products for women. With regard to the sanitary napkins, considerable efforts have been made to prevent leakage of menstrual blood from a gap that occurs due to poor contact with the vicinity of the vaginal opening. Moreover, in the case of tampons, due to product attributes thereof, a foreign object sensation or a feeling of discomfort when worn, or difficulty in fitting inside the vagina occurs, and considerable efforts have been made to eliminate these.
Under these circumstances, as a sanitary product in between a sanitary napkin and a tampon, in recent years, an interlabial pad (referred to below as a pad) is receiving attention as a sanitary product. This interlabial pad is worn with a portion thereof inserted between the labia, and is made to contact the inner surface of the labia; since contact with the body is good compared to that of sanitary napkins, leakage of menstrual blood is inhibited; and since the menstrual blood is prevented from spreading and coming into wider contact with the body, it is hygienic and clean. Moreover, since it is smaller than a sanitary napkin, it is comfortable and has excellent wearability, and compared to a tampon that is inserted into the vagina, it is distinguished in that little psychological resistance is caused when worn.
However, since the interlabial pad adheres to the body due to interlabial sandwiching force, it has to flexibly follow movements of the labia to the left and right caused by the wearer's movements. In cases in which it is difficult for the interlabial pad to follow the body movements, there is a danger that it may drop out of the wearer's labia. As a result, various types of interlabial pads, with which better adherence to the body is possible, have been considered.
The interlabial pad described in Japanese Patent Application, Laid Open No. 2001-506168 (referred to below as Patent Document 1) is formed of a fluid permeable top sheet, a back sheet that is difficult for fluids to permeate, and an absorbing body disposed therebetween, with a “bending axis” preferably provided along a center line in a longitudinal direction of the interlabial pad. By bending the pad along this “bending axis” and inserting between the labia of the wearer, since the top sheet of the pad maintains contact with an inner wall of the labia of the wearer and has a uniform covering area, it can be prevented from dropping out.
A “bending axis” of an interlabial pad as described in Patent Document 1 is a line or axis about which the pad has a tendency to be bended or folded when a compressing force towards an inner is received from a side of the pad in a lateral direction. In the Patent Document 1, outside of the center line in the longitudinal direction that is the “bending axis”, the interlabial pad has a uniform thickness, and the “bending axis” is formed by making its rigidity lower than that of other portions, with respect to any or all of a top sheet, an absorbing body, and a back sheet. That is, since rigidities differ between the “bending axis” and “other portions”, a crest of the fold at the “bending axis” has a uniform rigidity in the longitudinal direction.
Here, the interlabial pad is worn so as to be held between left and right labia minora linking clitoris and posterior labial commissure, as shown in FIG. 16. The vestibule floor within the labia minor is located more within the body than the clitoris and the posterior labial commissure, and a central axis in the body connecting the clitoris to the perineum has an uneven rather than a straight line contour. In order to prevent leakage of menstrual blood when wearing the interlabial pad, the interlabial pad has to be of a size that covers more towards the front than the clitoris, and more towards the rear than the posterior labial commissure.
As a result, when a wearer wears the interlabial pad between the labia minora, even when the central axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the pad is made to fit the vaginal opening and the vestibule floor, a rear portion of the pad touches the posterior labial commissure that protrudes out from the body more than the vaginal opening and the vestibule floor. When the rear portion of the pad touches the body, the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the pad does not reach as far as the vaginal opening and the vestibule floor, so that a gap occurs between the pad, and the vaginal opening and the vestibule floor. Furthermore, if the pad is forcibly inserted so as to fit the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the pad, with the vaginal opening and the vestibule floor, there has been a risk that the pad, having uniform rigidity in its longitudinal direction, may buckle irregularly and contact with the labia inner wall may deteriorate, so that the pad may drop down from the labia, and also there has been a risk that excessive irritation may be given to the labia.